How to Stop Shoulder Pain in Bed (Sleeping Postures)

It is quite common to experience shoulder pain in bed or while sleeping. Shoulder pain at night can often be attributed to poor positioning.

Common problems:

Sleeping on painful shoulder side.

This may be due to habit. One should avoid sleeping directly on a painful shoulder if possible. If not, we will show you an option.

Option One: Sleep on the nonpainful shoulder and support the painful shoulder arm with two pillows. Place one pillow on the bed lengthwise next to the body. Place the second pillow on top of the first pillow. Tuck the pillow in the armpit of the painful shoulder and allow the remainder of the arm to rest on the pillow. Make it comfortable.

Option Two: Sleep directly on the painful shoulder. Reduce stress by creating on canal. Use two pillows to support the head in a side-lying position. Have a third smaller pillow or throw pillow to place about 6 to 8 inches from the two pillows. This creates the canal. Lie on your painful side and place the painful shoulder/arm in the canal. Pressure will be distributed to your head, rib cage, and partially to the painful shoulder. But much less stress than normal.

Option Three: Sleep on the painful shoulder side but roll back slightly. This will take any pressure off the point of the shoulder and it will be felt more on your shoulder blade and back. Use a pillow to support your back in that position.

Sleeping on stomach with arms overhead.

This should be avoided at all costs. We suggest this extreme measure if you continue to sleep on your stomach. Sew a tennis ball into the front of a t-shirt. With a ball in place, any attempts to lie on your stomach will be extremely uncomfortable.

Check out the full Shoulder Pain Relief Program series of videos along with downloadable guide sheets for each video on our website here: https://www.bobandbrad.com/health-programs/shoulder-pain-relief-program